Before playing Lehigh, Princeton turns to MMQB for inspiration

By
Nick Peruffo, The Trentonian

Friday, September 20, 2013

PRINCETON — Even by their enviable standards, today will be a tough test for Princeton.

The Tigers, who started practicing less than a month ago, open their season against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks — a team that is already 2-0 and is currently ranked 18th in the FCS Coaches Poll (no Ivy League squad cracked the top 25). The p.m. kickoff will be broadcast live nationally on NBC Sports Network.

To help get the team in the proper frame of mind, coach Bob Surace emailed an article written by Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman for Peter King’s MMQB website.

“Richard Sherman was quoted on MMQB, it was one of the great articles that I’ve seen,” Surace said (the article, entitled, ‘We Compete Against Ourselves’, was posted Wednesday). “He’s a player, but he was talking about the Seahawks vs. the 49ers. He’s message was, ‘We compete against ourselves. We compete to be the best that we can be.’”

The Tigers opened last season against the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa., and were not the best they could be early, falling behind, 17-0, at the half. In the second half, however, they climbed back into the contest, eventually losing, 17-14. While Surace said the program never regards losses as positives, the lesson of that game appeared to pay off down the line, especially in their 39-34 comeback victory against Harvard.

“I do like the fact that we continued to play hard for 60 minutes,” Suarace said. “Later in the year we had a situation at Harvard where we were down 20 and played hard for 60 minutes, and it came out to our benefit in the end. We will play hard for that length of time.”

An explosive offense that has scored a combined 79 points in their two wins this season leads Lehigh. Quarterback Brandon Bialkowski has thrown for 741 yards and seven touchdowns, with 433 of the yards and four of the touchdowns going to receiver Lee Kurfis.

“We may put two guys on him at times,” Surace said of Kurfis. “He’s been wonderful for them. He did great things against us last year. They have a group of wide receivers. They have unbelievable stats, but those other receivers are really good, and they have a running back (Keith Sherman) — a group of running backs, but one especially — that’s running real hard.”

Still, there is a significant cloud of uncertainty hanging over Lehigh. Four players, including sophomore defensive back Russhon Phillip, were suspended indefinitely after an off-campus incident Tuesday night. The identities of the other three players aren’t known.

Not that Surace is wasting too much energy trying to figure it out. He’s said the Tigers will prepare exactly as if Lehigh were at full force.

“Nobody’s crying that Chuck Dibilio and Khamal Brown are sitting next to me every day,” Surace said, referring to the two former standouts that have been forced to the sidelines after suffering a stroke and rare brain injury, respectively. “It is what it is. When the game is snapped, nobody is thinking of those things. We’re playing against a Lehigh team that’s been tremendous.”

Despite the big offensive numbers, the Mountain Hawks wins against Central Connecticut State and Monmouth have been by a combined 10 points. Given that the Tigers also want to run an up-tempo, high-volume offense, the game could hinge on some of the younger players on the Princeton roster and the depth they provide.

Surace’s message to them? “Just do your job, and trust that the guy next to you is going to do his job.”